Raccoons in my attic

I have a momma and her babies living in my attic. I hired a wildlife removal company to help solve the problem. They sprayed eviction fluid almost 2 weeks ago and said it would make her leave and take her babies with her. That hasn’t happened. What do I do next? I’m not ok with killing them, but they do need to leave. The babies are in a place where we can only get to them by cutting into my walls, so I would prefer to find a way to make her relocate them herself.

find a better company to solve your problem. I would have given eviction paste/fluid about two days to work (with a camera to watch for results), then after I would have trapped mom, locate little one and remove by hand. repair and seal off enter so you don't have more raccoons move in

Yep what Brad Says. If you had to hire a company in first place I wouldn't recommend you trying to get them on your own a lot can go wrong if using sub par traps or equipment no offense to what you might have. If the eviction fluid didn't work there isn't really any reliable repllelant that are going to deter the female to move. If you did place a trap on the ground by your house and did catch a raccoon you don't know 100% sure if that's the one or not, could just be a coon passing through. If you listed what town your in someone may know a good company near you to refer.

Thanks. Unfortunately, I’ve already paid this guy so I’m kind of stuck with using him until it’s finished. The raccoon is getting in through a vent on the roof. I have a camera up there and watch her come and go every night. I haven’t allowed her to be trapped because I was told she would have to be killed due to the laws in Tx. I’m in frisco, Tx. Will bright lights and loud music in the attic make her relocate her babies?

If we trapped her we would put the trap in my attic, but I don’t want to trap her because I was told she would have to be killed. I would love to trap her, cut the babies out of my wall and leave them in a box on the roof, and then release mom in my back yard. Does that work? The house would be sealed up of coarse so she couldn’t get back in.

There's multiple ways to do things. I'd recommend a licensed person doing them though. Lot of things to go wrong if trapping in attic although could be done theirs better ways to make sure its the right female. I'm not familiar with Texas laws. I've seen plenty people use lights and music with little to know results. Even heard of a wildlife company that used strobe lights that ended up accidently catching fire and burning the entire house down. Your hired company has their hands tied by you from the sounds of it if you a limiting them to not trapping her and following their regulations by the state. Raccoons can carry many disease, let alone potential very costly damage to your house longer their up there. I'd want them out asap.

The guy is licensed. He didn’t want to trap her either. His preferred method is to use the eviction fluid first. He said it takes up to a week but in his 10 years experience, it almost always works. In this case, it just hasn’t. I was hoping to learn of other options here. I don’t mind the trapping part at all. I just don’t want her killed.

Have him try the eviction fluid a few days straight and some harassment .

If the paste doesn't work, you really don't have an option other than trapping or leaving them. Since your family's health is at risk, not to mention the monetary damage a full attic tearout of insulation could bring, I wouldn't be letting fuzzy feelings get in the way.

They are so disease ridden,.. and you don't want to kill them ???
It is the law in most places to kill them. My local game warden says fill a garbage can with water, and bury them afterwards.

Having said that, many guys release them 5-10 miles away... but then they become someone else's problem.

And I guarantee you, there are 30 more coons living in your neighborhood.

Would you rather take care of the problem by the legally required method (kill the raccoon) or risk the raccoon roundworm get transferred to you or your kids? This is not something to play with. Just because raccoons look cute and cuddly does not mean that they are.

Is the person you hired going to clean up the feces in your attic IF they are successful in getting the female and her litter to leave?

Read about this parasite:

Raccoon Roundworms

And, BTW, this is just one of several potential disease risks with raccoons.

So what you are saying is that with all the raccoons I've handled in the past 65 years, I should have been dead a long time ago. And not even one raccoon related disease; Imagine that! We probably did close to 2 thousand raccoons last year!

Not at all Paul. You are a professional and understand the risks and how to mitigate them. You would more than likely have solved this problem and we would have never heard about it.

The OP, on the other hand, has no clue what they are dealing with or the potential consequences of their cute and cuddy attitude about their home invaders. And it is not obvious that the folks hired to solve the problem have made the homeowner aware of the possibilities either.

It's not always counterproductive to catch and release a raccoon. I'm assuming that in Texas, as well as many other states, it only has to be euthanized if removed from the property. In the situation described by Aggie, here is what I do.
Catch the raccoon coming out, in a positive set cage over the entry hole.
This confirms the right one is caught and you can easily see if it's a lactating sow.
Once you have her on the ground...scare the crap out of her. Roll the cage, spray with water, smack cage with a stick, yell at her. Make it clear she's not welcome.
Release her on site. She will run off into the brush.
She will come back at dark and move her litter out of the house. (a trail camera works great for these situations, to make sure she takes the pups)
It's worked for me 6 of 7 times, when there is no access to litter.
She'll probably never be caught in a cage again, so if she is stubborn and refuses to leave, a #160 conibear over the entry and cut the hole.

Were you getting all cuddly with them, or handling them in a steel box?


The roundworm had to make a choice... Paul or Chuck Norris. It sucked it up and went after Chuck Norris!

I’m well aware of what diseases and parasites they carry. I said I don’t want to kill them. That doesn’t mean I’m going to keep them as pets and infect my family with anything. How exactly do you think I’m going to infect myself with anything??

I wouldn’t kill an animal just because it had ringworm. My cat had ringworm once and guess what? Everyone in my family is fine and no one got it. I didn’t kill my cat either. Y’all are acting like you automatically get every disease a raccoon has if you don’t kill it. How many of y’all have ever been infected with anything from a raccoon? I’m guessing none. I’m also not concerned about rabies at all. It’s very rare where I am for raccoons to have rabies. Wildlife removal companies told me there hasn’t been a documented case of rabies from a raccoon in north Tx in almost 20 years. Regardless, I’m not up there loving on them and handling them. I just don’t want to kill them.

I guess my problem is solved. A male raccoon just went in the attic and from what I just had to listen to, he killed all the babies. I’m assuming mom will leave now and we will have to cut the dead babies out through our wall.

How exactly do you think I’m going to catch anything from a raccoon in my attic?? I’m truly curious. Having a “cuddly attitude” doesn’t spread disease.

Thank you for posting something with a little common sense. I’m honestly shocked at the people who seem to think that I’m going to catch something from a raccoon because it’s in my attic. I’m not keeping it for a pet to love on! Geez.

On Monday, we had a raccoon fall through a ceiling of a house we set up on earlier that day.

Unexpected, and unplanned things happen.

We warned you of a possible danger in ROUNDWORM, not ringworm. That's only being responsible. Choosing to ignore it is foolish. But it is your choice, and as an adult, you are free to choose it.

Paul has been dealing with wild animals for decades and has had quite a lot of experience with them. Don't mistake him saying he hasn't caught a disease from them with he's not taking any precautions. And it's not only your family at risk. When I lived in Houston, my air conditioner and heater were installed in the attic. The tech that services them will be going up in the attic, putting himself at risk. Then coming back down, walking through your house, brushing off his clothes, etc.

Again, you're free to make those choices.

Thanks for the info, but until I see data that shows me a high rate of infection of a disease or parasite from raccoons, then im not worried about the safety of my family at all. We coexist with thousands of animals that carry diseases every day and yet somehow society
manages to stay safe. And roundworms? Yeah, dogs have those too. And again, I’m not keeping them as pets to love on, and I don’t regularly roll around in my attic insulation so I’m going to be just fine.

If your not worried about the diseases they carry,why do you want them gone?
Why not just enjoy them while you can.Once the babies grow they will leave,just like humans.

Aggierose -
You are getting info here from some of the most experienced knowledgeable guys in the industry. They are trying to help you for free when you hired someone else. And you want to bicker with them? You challenge them to prove things to you? You are uninformed and foolish. Go away and rely on someone you hire and pay instead of being a nuisance to strangers.

Hey Paul. Any advice on what to do now? The wildlife revival guy soared eviction fluid but didn’t get it close to the nest because he would of had to belly crawl at least 30 feet to reach it. He only sprayed it once, and told us not to go in the attic at all after that because it might disturb her and cause her not to relocate. After almost 2 weeks we said she’s obviously not leaving so Lets trap her and start cutting open the walls to get the babies. Unfortunately, 2 days before he was coming to place the trap, a male raccoon went into the attic. Based on what we heard, I assumed he killed the babies. The wildlife guy came out and went into the attic and ran into the male, caught him with the pole and removed him. He looked beat up and like he had possibly been fighting. The babies definitely aren’t in the same area because it’s now totally silent there, but we see and hear no signs of them, and we don’t smell dead animals either. (Attack was sat night, today is Thursday, and I’m in Tx and it’s been fairly hot). Mom did not take them out because we have a camera set up at her entry point and she never left.... for 3 days. Yesterday, the wildlife guy caught her in a trap (in my attic), but she escaped the trap and ran off while he was putting her in his truck. She went back into the attic last night. How do we trap her now that she’s already been trapped once? Aren’t they smart enough to know not to go in a trap again? At this point I have no idea what happened to the babies and if they’re still up there or not. It’s just turned into a big mess.

No one has forced anyone to offer any advice to me. And, expressing that I think it’s foolish to kill every living thing because it might possibly carry a disease that I’m extremely unlikely to ever come in contact with is not bickering. I’m not uninformed. I just don’t see the point of killing everything for no reason. I never once had any intention of doing anything myself with the raccoons as several assumed. And if you consider me a nuisance, then just keep scrolling and ignore me.

If they weren’t causing damage that I’m going to have to pay to repair, Id be happy to let them stay.

If you're in the city and let them go, they are likely to just end up being someone else's problem.

If you let them go 'free' in the wild, they have to fight it out with the other animals who already live there. Someone will have to starve to death if there isn't enough food.

So, given a choice between a humane way to deal with them or to let them go 'free', you have to ask yourself: how kind is that to others or the animal?

The research I've read says that raccoon density is at least twice as high in the cities as it is in the wild. City raccoon are bums living off welfare. They aren't even as healthy as their rural counterparts because of the trash they eat.

And, if anyone wants to argume that 'we took their land', well, at least half of them don't belong on 'their land'. As you've seen, they just end up inviting their rogue in-laws that trash and desecrate your place!

Your heart is in the right place, but many of us here have an inkling that you just may change your mind should a third raccoon family start using your attic as a toilet.

I hope that never happens, but if it does, you know where to go for help. The ADC guys here know their stuff.

Funny, almost sounds like you are talking about people there.

A study by biologists has shown that city raccoons released in the country, have the same chance of living successfully as their wild counterparts. I believe this. If you feel that you are adding to the over-population, maybe you could drop your live raccoon off, next to a dead one lying in the road!

Rose
is relocating mammals legal in TX?
it is not here, unless on property caught, so we must close entrances while critter stays in cage.
Your man apparently did not invest in quality cage traps OR have the experience to quick clip it shut with a carabiner to avoid escape.
Getting it in a cage again has much reduced probability.
When it ran off, IF that was the only coon left alive, was his chance to close entrances.
It is too early to smell dead babies in the wall.

One problem with relocation is, the critter has learned there are comforts in human homes. How would you like it if a attic loving coon was relocated in your hood.

Sometimes well meaning folks, just give the problem to another homeowner. If, next time, THAT PARTICULAR critter chews wires and burns down a homeowners place, would you feel guilty? Most folks don't realize they are enabling damage/problems to a neighbors home.

I must wonder if you checked references before hiring this knucklehead...or asked pro's here for a competent guy. https://www.ttfha.com/officers_directors.html

Geez Paul, seeing the dead raccoon is likely to give the live one PTSD.

Ringworm vs Roundworm one the symptom is a rash the other the symptoms are blindness, coma, and death... (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) it's the only thing I actually worry about in this trade...

Is that before or after he eats it?




(For the record, I have no idea if a raccoon will eat a dead raccoon, though I wouldn't doubt it.)

Did your problem finally get resolved? with or without trapping when all said and done? were the kits removed ? was curious how this all ended. Did the company offer a attic remediation if needed?

We had sow and kits in the attic. Threw rags soaked in ammonia near her. Put a very bright stand up work light up there along with a boombox blasting a hard rock station up there all day for two days and she got them and herself out of there before we sealed off all entrance options.

The wildlife revival guy soared eviction fluid but didn’t get it close to the nest because he would of had to belly crawl at least 30 feet to reach it. .[/quote]

That is the time to use A slingshot/wrist rocket to propel the eviction fluid loaded tennis ball back to the area.